Laforey HMS
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:01 pm
HMS Laforey, a destroyer, was the first ship to be built to this design and in keeping with Royal Navy tradition gave her name to the class.
Completed in August 1941 she was soon on active service escorting ships to Malta. During one of these operations HMS Ark Royal was torpedoed and lost her ability to generate power, including electricity. HMS Laforey went alongside and provided all the electric power required to assist in the rescue and salvage operation.
The crew of HMS Eagle also found her on hand when the carrier was torpedoed.
In December 1942 she again went to the rescue. This time it was the troop carrying liner Strathallan - the finest of the P & 0 'Strath' class - who had been hit by a torpedo. HMS Laforey took her in tow and attempted to reach Oran without success.
All her time was not spent on escort duties, she bombarded enemy shore defences in Tunisia and helped in the capture of Pantellaria and Lampedusa in June 1943. Later the same year she destroyed the Italian submarine Ascianghi before proceeding to take part in the landing in Sicily.
On the 29th March 1944 she took part in an attack on German submarine U223. The battle was a drawn out one and in the early hours of the 30th March the submarine while attempting to escape on the surface torpedoed and sunk Laforey before being herself sunk by the other hunters.
Gibraltar Philatelic.
Gibraltar SG543
Completed in August 1941 she was soon on active service escorting ships to Malta. During one of these operations HMS Ark Royal was torpedoed and lost her ability to generate power, including electricity. HMS Laforey went alongside and provided all the electric power required to assist in the rescue and salvage operation.
The crew of HMS Eagle also found her on hand when the carrier was torpedoed.
In December 1942 she again went to the rescue. This time it was the troop carrying liner Strathallan - the finest of the P & 0 'Strath' class - who had been hit by a torpedo. HMS Laforey took her in tow and attempted to reach Oran without success.
All her time was not spent on escort duties, she bombarded enemy shore defences in Tunisia and helped in the capture of Pantellaria and Lampedusa in June 1943. Later the same year she destroyed the Italian submarine Ascianghi before proceeding to take part in the landing in Sicily.
On the 29th March 1944 she took part in an attack on German submarine U223. The battle was a drawn out one and in the early hours of the 30th March the submarine while attempting to escape on the surface torpedoed and sunk Laforey before being herself sunk by the other hunters.
Gibraltar Philatelic.
Gibraltar SG543